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Breaking News! Is Forgiveness Really Divine?

Breaking News! Is Forgiveness Really Divine?

When contemplating forgiveness, people tend to think of it on individual terms. Let’s say you were betrayed by a lover or lied to by a friend. You can either accept the apology that is offered and move forward, or reject the apology and seek revenge. But what about forgiveness on a larger scale? How do different countries across the world feel about it? A recent study that included 42,000 participants from 30 countries, ranked how people prioritize forgiveness, and the results were “exciting.”

“You see, that nifty slogan from the 70’s that said Make Love Not War was not just a nifty slogan. It showed that in times of conflict, forgiveness goes a long way. And so does smoking pot and listening to psychedelic music.”

On a list of 18 values, forgiveness ranked 8 overall. Other top values were honesty and love and lower values were ambition and obedience. The “really exciting” news is how the rankings varied from countries by who felt safer. For example, the United States ranked forgiveness as #4 and countries who have higher levels of safety concerns, such as Israel and India, ranked forgiveness very low. Interestingly, Israel and India ranked survival as their #1 value.

“Makes perfect sense. You see, all we need to do is have a sit-down with ISIS and ask them to enter the word “forgiveness” into their vocabulary. Early education is always best. We teach forgiveness to girls and boys in their schools and we’ll start to see changes.”

The analysis backs up this theory indicating the more people that are capable of forgiveness, the better their well-being will be. Studies have shown for decades that when we let go of anger, we save emotional energy for more fulfilling and enjoyable pursuits in life.

“It goes without saying, the more people who remove their suicide-bomb jackets before detonation, the more opportunities they’ll have to forgive.”